


A Falling Knife

by BurningLeviathans



Category: Dishonored (Video Game)
Genre: DLC, Gen, The Knife of Dunwall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-11
Updated: 2013-04-11
Packaged: 2017-12-08 04:42:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/757170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningLeviathans/pseuds/BurningLeviathans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daud's spiralling journey from Jessamine's death is observed by outside eyes who await a good show.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Falling Knife

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what this is I just wanted to write it to include that one line about the knife being plunged into flesh and yada yada.
> 
> I am not a writer.

It had been a long, long time since an Empire had been thrown into such turmoil as Dunwall faced now. It had been an even longer time since the Outsider had had two of his Marked, two of his favourites, rise against one another. But never had he found a favourite before they had even been Marked by him.

Corvo certainly was one in a million in that respect. But then, so was Daud. And what better show than to watch Corvo's life waste away in prison, a dutiful dog awaiting his punishment for an act he didn't commit, than to see the turmoil that Daud was facing within himself?

Indeed, it had been mere seconds after the heinous murder of Jessamine that he felt Daud's power pull at his body, the slightest tug to use his gift. He shuddered whenever it was Daud's tug; never anyone else's. He wasn't sure how he'd feel when Corvo was given the chance, but that was still a time in waiting. That time, however, drew ever closer.

Six months, Daud rotted from the inside out. For six months, the Outsider watched as the killer so desperately tried to forget about what he'd done to the Empire he begrudgingly had called home, away from Serkonos. For six long months, he watched as Daud...regretted.

He'd watched this man for a very long time, watched him use the power he had been gifted to kill nobles before, to slaughter corrupt creatures that dared called themselves people for coin. He and his treacherous Whalers. Oh, the rage he'd felt when he discovered Daud had been bestowing his power onto others without his permission. Others that he felt were not even close to worthy. But his plaything had found them worthy. His favourite had deemed them worthy. And so he allowed it.

The day came to pass when Corvo's execution was to be held, but they would find no prisoner, and the Lord Protector would find no sleep that night. He'd been anticipating this day for a long time, what seemed ages to him, which was ironic. Now, he was to watch his new favourite go up against his old favourite, in due time.

With the news of Corvo's escape, and the inevitable drawing closer of his end, Daud didn't seem phased in the least, he observed. Instead of wallowing in his misery, as he had done for six months, he took action to finish some final, unknown act. The Outsider hadn't seen that event coming. It would make things more interesting.

It seemed like a race against time for Daud, and every step of the way, he was watched. Corvo's vengeance was methodical, paced, and cool-headed. Unlike what the deity would have thought from a man that had been dealt such a terrible hand. Perhaps it was the thought of creating even more chaos in an already chaotic land that stopped Corvo's hand from dealing the rightful blow of death to as many enemies as he could. Perhaps he did not wish to scorn Jessamine's death by littering her kingdom with more corpses. How noble.

Leaving Corvo to that, the Outsider watched Daud go about his mission, and yet, the days passed quickly, bringing the two against one another once Corvo had been poisoned and dumped into the Flooded District. The immense power that flickered in the air between the two made the deity tremble in delight, and he watched intently as Daud left Corvo for dead. What a pitiful mistake.

It didn't seem like Daud had become cocky, and yet his actions were no longer as calculated or planned as they had been before, no longer as thorough and careful. It disappointed the Outsider to watch him spiral at the very last minute, but it gave a good show.

It was certainly uncalled for, but he could feel Corvo drawing ever closer to finding Daud, to possibly ending the life of his favourite toy. It was as if it were a competition for who would be the Outsider's utmost favourite. There was room for only one, after all. And yet Daud was held so dear to the void that was the deity's heart. Which led him to drawing Daud into the Void, for potentially his last meeting.

The man did not ask for help, did not plead for protection, did not grovel for the deity to save him from Corvo's rightful wrath. No, he knew that this was long in coming, and he had wanted it for a very long time. It was clear to both of them. So the deity offered naught but a few simple, perhaps reassuring words.

“Even if Dunwall burns to the ground, one corner of the Empire will still know your story. Daud, the knife of Dunwall. Killer of an Empress.”

They would always know his story. They would not know his face, or much of his past, but they would always speak his story. How he conspired to throw an Empire into ruin, and came up against a deadly force that could not be reckoned with. 

Two storms that would collide were soon to meet, and the Outsider would take his seat in the wings of safety, to watch the culmination of the wreckage, and see what survivors were spit out. After all, once a knife was plunged into the flesh, it would only pain one more to rip it out immediately.


End file.
